Blades Fans Column: Billy Sharp can’t keep carrying the team

Matthew Bell

Either that or he’s wishing he’d gone to another club last summer; he can’t have expected this when he signed for the Blades.

But if he is regretting the move he is not showing it in his performances, which stand him apart from the often shoddy play of the rest of his teammates.

Billy had a rough patch from late October into November, when he didn’t score for a while and was playing poorly.

What we weren’t aware of then was that his partner was in the later stages of pregnancy, and considering what happened to his son Leo a few years ago it wouldn’t have been surprising if his mind wandered from playing football now and again.

But the birth in early December gave him a new lease of life, both in terms of scoring goals and his all-round play, making runs and worrying defenders.

You can see him sometimes shaking his head as another lung-bursting effort goes to waste when the ball doesn’t arrive or goes way over his head.

He is carrying the team at the moment, which was never more glaring than away to Wigan when he single-handedly dragged United from 3-0 down to 3-3 purely by his own determination and guts.

But he can’t do it on his own every week and it’s about time some of the others began to pull their weight.

We frequently see opposing teams carrying the ball from the half-way line to the edge of our box without a challenge and opponents crossing or shooting unmolested.

This sort of thing has been a constant failing all season.

Maybe Nigel Adkins is telling them to do this, or they aren’t listening to him or they are incapable of doing it right. Make your own mind up.